A different telling
by Evilkat23
Summary: A sort of Cinderella type story, only a little different than what you're use to. Mark is a prince planned to be married off to any royal of his choosing, the problem is he's already in love with his father's stable boy Jack. Obvious Septipiler is obvious. With a few other pairings. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

Matthew, Mat, let out a bitter growl as he looked for the prince, Mark. Going through the court yard of the Palace, pass the garden, Mat strolled into the horse stables where Jack, the stable boy, was working, feeding the King's prized horse.

"Jackson!" Mat barked, gaining the man's attention.

"Jack. We've been over this Mat." Jack spoke, his Irish accent a tad strained as he lifted up the heavy hay to give to the brown horse.

"Jack, where is Mark." Mat demanded, Jack shrugged as he pick up the bucket to give the rest of the feed to the horse.

"Like hell if I know."

"Jackson. Where is Mark? You know it's his study time." Mat started, Jack moved passed him to get some water for the animal, Mat paused and watched as the farm boy bent down fill the bucket, once Jack was back up, bucket of water in his hands, Mat continued, "He needs to study."

"He's not here. C'mon Matpat. Mark isn't stupid enough to hide here for two days in a row." Jack responded, making Mat roll his eyes at the terrible nickname he was given. Jack leaned against an empty stable and waited patiently for Mat's response. Mat pursed his lips and let out a bitter sigh before dropping his arms.

"Fine. If you see him, please send him to me." Mat growled and slowly stormed out of the stables. Once Mat was gone, Jack smiled and kicked the stable he was leaning against.

"You're good." Jack smiled, there was a pause before Mark popped up from a pile of hay, straw and grass sticking all out of his hair and some stuck to his beard as well. The prince smiled brightly at Jack.

"You're dad is going to whip my hide if he finds you hiding with me. Again." Jack laughed as Mark came out from behind the stable. The prince wiped off his clothing trying to get all of the straw and hay off. Mark let out a low familiar laugh.

"Thanks for hiding me, Jack."

Jack tsked and sighed out softly, the farm boy picked up the pitch fork and started to stab at the hay blissfully.

"I'll tell you this, if I could get the sort of education you get. I wouldn't be wasting it." Jack simply told him, Mark snorted at this,

"You would not be saying that if you had boring ol' Matpat for a teacher, trust me."

"Oh, he can't be that bad. At least he tries to make it interesting."

"Key word is 'tries'. and he does, he just doesn't do it right, he likes to try and put his own spin on history and literature by adding theories...Oh god there are so many theories..." Mark rolled his eyes and leaned against the stable with Jack.

"So, Mr. Jack..." Mark started his voice had a very clear flirty tone to it, Mark got closer to Jack and gently caressed the stable boy's arm.

"Mark, not now. I have to work, if I get caught...Especially if I get caught with you, it'll be my hide and probably my head as well."

"Jack, we've been doing this for almost two years now..." Mark pointed out as he gently grabbed Jack's arm now.

"I know we have...Mark, if we ever get caught, you know the consequence."

Mark frowned and gently moved his hand down to Jack's own callused hand, he then interlocked his fingers between Jack's.

"I know...I know...What if I told you I could get us out of here? We could leave together...Be together, just me and you." The prince whispered softly, Jack smiled sweetly at Mark, shyly, Jack looked left then he looked right, once the coast was clear, he pecked Mark on the lips.

"You know I would, in a heartbeat."

"MARK!"

"Meet me in my room tonight, after the sun falls."

The two broke away as Mat came storming back into the stables.

"I KNEW YOU WERE HIDING HIM!" Mat roared out, without another word, he proceeded to grab Mark by the ear and drag the prince away.

"He wasn't hiding me! Really I just made it there when you came back. Seriously...We don't have to tell dad about this." Mark tried to explain as Mat stormed a head of him, Jack shook his head and laughed as Mat was now clearly giving Mark a piece of his mind as he now yelled at the prince sternly.

Jack then walked up to the king's horse known simply as Jay, The dark brown horse snorted at Jack as the man patted his snout.

"Easy there boy..." Jack breathed out, calming the horse down as he pulled a carrot out of his pocket, he fed Jay the treat before looking up towards the outside sky. The bright blue sky hung above them there were a few scattered clouds about, it definitely wasn't going to rain. That made Jack frown, it hasn't rained for a good while now, looking into the water well Jack let out a soft sigh, it was getting rather low...Too low.

Before he could dwell too long on the water situation, Jack suddenly felt something hard hit the side of his head.

"OW! FUCKIN' HELL!" Jack cried clutching the part of his head where it hit him.

"Oh, geez...I didn't mean to hit you that hard...C'mere." Hearing someone urge him out of the stables, Jack sighed when he saw Wade and Bob hiding, both of them beckoning for the Irish man to come over. Carefully looking around, Once the coast was clear, Jack stuffed his hands into his pockets and strolled over to the two.

"You two are going to get me in trouble." Jack huffed at the two of them, Wade carefully looked around before asking,

"We were thinking of going to pub, you down?" Wade asked, Jack pursed his lips to the side.

"Not at the moment, no, I have to finish up with Jay." Jack told them, Bob frowned at this.

"It's urgent. It's about Mark."

Jack's head snapped at that.

"What about-"

"At the pub, when you finish..."

With that, the two of them sauntered off trying to look inconspicuous as they both walked. Jack frowned at this, he shouldn't let his emotions for Mark get in the way of his job, but that didn't stop him from rushing through the rest of his work and ran off towards the pub in town. Holding on to his hat, Jack kept his head down once inside the pub.

He could hear the normal patrons, Doug Walker and his brother Rob, their two friends Malcom and Tamera. All sitting at the same table, there was James Rolfe sitting by himself just away from them, he looked like he was getting ready to bash one of their heads in with his mug, his face sour. It would of been the first time he hurt one of them for their rather boisterous behavior. Over in the corner of the pub was Toby sipping his drink silently.

"Jack." Turning Jack saw in the other corner, Bob and Wade where sitting, three mugs in front of them, they continued to wave Jack urgently over to them. He gave Cry, the bartender, a friendly smile as he sat down next to his friends.

"What's going on?" Jack asked the moment he sat down. Bob and Wade looked at one another before sighing out.

"Jack, you're one of our best friends." Bob started in which Wade responded with,

"Who's banging the Prince..."

Jack sipped his ale, Wade and Bob knew of his relationship with the prince, they were the only ones to know about their secret. Jack was going to respond, before he could, there was a loud scream followed by a dull 'thud' everyone turned and looked over to see Doug on the floor, James standing over him, mug upside down in his hands.

"James, Out. you've had enough for the day." Cry ordered, pointing towards the door.

"Go fuck your mother..." James bitterly spat as he stormed out.

Rob ran to help his unconscious brother up, Jack and the others just shook their heads and then went back to their conversation at hand.

"Jack...They plan on marrying Mark off." Bob finally said, Jack almost spat out his drink at those words.

"What?! They can't do that!" He yelled shocked. Bob and Wade shushed him before Bob continued,

"His father already sanctioned it...I head that he's giving Mark a choice though...Something about some sort of dance or ball filled with nothing but royals from all around..."

Jack sat there for a moment, a bit shell shocked at the sudden news. Finally Jack stood and rushed away from them,

"...I have to talk to him!" Jack yelled to them as he ran out of the pub. Running back towards the palace, Jack's mind raced a thousand miles per hour.

Mark's father wouldn't marry Mark off.

Would he?

 **Alright, chapter one, done. Let me tell you finding a fitting first chapter was hard I must of went through five different scenario's but it's done. Please leave a review if you liked it =D**

 **P.S I feel like I should mention, the horse, Jay, is another youtuber (obviously) called Kubzscouts I love him so much W And if you don't know Mat/Matpat is the game theorist. I felt it was fitting he'd be a teacher.**

 **Edit. Wow, I must of confused some of you, I realized I called Jay, Kubz twice and then called him James in the start! Wow! I fixed that little issue. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

The king loved birds.

It was an odd fact, but a true one nonetheless. The king had more birds than he had children, and even though he had many birds that looked alike he could always tell which one was which. Now, he had one bird that he favored the most out of all of them, a bird so special that it got to sit on his shoulder at almost all times. It seemed kind of odd that a very large man loved something so small.

"You're hungry today, aren't you?" The king cooed as he gave the bird on his shoulder, Jacques, a green-cheeked conure, a small seed. The bird took the seed, ate it, then proceeded to start pecking impatiently at his master's thick curly beard, clearly wanting more. Before he could give the bird more food, the door to his throne room opened and his steward hurried in.

"King Jon, the invitations have been sent out." His friend and steward, Austin hurriedly told him. The king blinked a bit before sighing. Dropping the seeds, he stood from his throne and causally walked up towards Austin.

"So it is done. Most of my sons know of the upcoming ball...Most of them..." The king ushered his arm out, signaling for his steward to walk with him towards the massive bird cage, Austin did so as the king continued to talk, "Danny and Arin are fine with the idea, Jared doesn't seem to like it but won't complain...It's Mark I'm worried about." The king spoke as he gently placed Jaques into the cage with the other birds.

"Well...Mark isn't even your child-"

Austin quickly put a hand over his mouth the moment the king turned and narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Curb your tongue, steward. I still raised him as my own, and does he not call me dad? He is still my prince, along with Jared, Danny and Arin." The king scolded Austin as he shut and locked the bird cage.

"King Jon. If I may ask...I was never told the full story on how you found Mark to start with..."

"It's a simple story, I found him as a baby just outside my palace doors...It was shortly after I had lost Jared's mother...Mark wasn't even given a blanket, poor thing was freezing when I picked him up. Oh, but he was attached me almost instantly. Despite being cold, he grabbed my index finger and smiled up at me..." The king sighed out happily at the memory flooding in his mind. "I saw that as a sign. I couldn't give him to the orphanage here in town, I just couldn't...It also didn't help that Danny and Arin took an immediate liking to him either."

"And Jared?" Austin asked, he snickered when the king just shook his head,

"Yeah, not so much."

Austin knew Jared well, dare he say, Jared was one of his few friends, but damn if that guy didn't voice his opinion whether people wanted it or not.

"Back to the subject at hand. I fear of telling Mark because it seems Mark may have found love in a commoner."

"You think so?"

"His mood has changed, he's more happy, carefree, and talkative towards everyone...All signs of love, I know it's not a royal, so it must be a commoner. I do not know who exactly, I've been trying to get Matthew to figure it out for me, but Mark is...Mark's quick. Lets leave it at that..."

"Hello?"

Both of them hearing a female from the doorway, they turned and looked at her. She had long dark brown hair, put up in a ponytail by a string, her dark brown eyes showed nervousness as she stood there fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve.

"I am Stephanie, I was told I needed to talk to a Matthew about the sewing job?" She asked softly as she adverted her eyes away from the two.

The king sighed out before clapping his hands together, "Leon!" he cried, there was a pause before a familiar black man came hurrying to him.

"Yes, your majesty?" Leon asked with a slight bow.

"Bring Matthew to me, it appears he has a guest."

"Yes sir, right away-" Before Leon could finish the doors behind Stephanie were slammed open and in stormed Matthew, Mark beside him being dragged by the ear, covered head to toe in straw and hay. Matthew looked beyond mad.

"Leon, you work incredibly fast." The king teased before straightening up.

"Jack was hiding him, again! this is getting ridiculous!" Matthew yelled as he finally let go of Mark's ear, in which Mark replied with an equally bitter,

"I told you! Jack wasn't hiding me! Father, I hid in the stables, yes, but Jack had no clue until I popped out from a hay stack. Matthew just came at the wrong time."

"You're lying to save his skin! A good beating will do that damn stable boy some good if you ask me! I saw him run off to the pub yesterday! in the middle of the day, Jack shouldn't be drinking until night has fallen. Irish! I swear!"

"Maybe, he finished up with his work and wanted a drink! It gets hot outside, plus with the water shortage, I don't blame him. Also, you watch your tongue, you're talking about my very good friend."

"I don't care if he's your friend or not, Mark. I stand by what I say-"

"Enough!" The king bellowed, silence fell soon after that, the only sound to be heard was the sound of the many birds chirping away in their cage. With a heavy calming sigh, the king straightening his royal robe a bit before continuing on,

"Mark, did Jackson hide you in the stables to help you avoid your studies?"

"No! I hid myself! I will admit that, but Jack had nothing to do with it. He's overreacting!" Mark cried pointing to Matthew, who was quick to yell back,

"Overreac- No! No I'm not! Mark this is the third day in a row that you've hidden from me in the stables! You're going to stand there and tell me that Jack didn't know?! He knew today, yesterday, and the day before that."

"You two, please...Austin, please take Mark back to his room, we'll continue this conversation later, right now Matthew, you have a visitor."

"Yes you're majesty. Come along, Mark." Austin answered quickly and started to walk Mark out of the throne room.

"Go make another theory about how the Pope locked monsters underground." Mark shot to Matthew as he walked out.

"Hey! That is a good theory! and it's most likely true!" Matthew shot back, right as they walked out, before Austin could shut door all the way, Mark yelled back,

"Keep telling yourself that!"

The doors then shut, leaving only silence between the three. Matthew threw his hands up bitterly before scoffing.

"Matthew, please, I understand your frustration, but we have the new seamstress here." The king told Matthew, pointing to Stephanie. The woman waved at Matthew, the king watched, rather humorously, as Matthew quickly changed his attitude and seemed to be blushing.

"My apologizes, you shouldn't of had to see that, M'lady. Please, follow me I'll show you to your work station." Matthew told her, she smiled and the two started to walk towards the door, Stephanie gently touched Matthews arm and gave him a warm smile,

"Please, explain this Pope theory to me."

If Matthew wasn't blushing before, he was definitely blushing now.

"Oh that little theory, I couldn't possibl- Ok, so many years ago it's been reported that monsters and humans lived in harmony..." They both walked out, Matthew now talking away, the door shut and the king sighed out softly sitting back down on his throne, he relaxed a bit, it didn't last long as no more than three seconds later Jared came storming in.

"Why do you let Mark get away with everything?! If Arin, Danny, or I talked to Matpat like that you'd be handing our asses to us! Not to mention all his study skipping!" Jared yelled angrily waving his arms before scoffing out.

"Jared, please calm down. Mark isn't going to get away with his attitude towards Matthew. I promise he will be punished for his skipping as well." The king sighed trying to urge his child to calm down with a simple hand wave.

"Yeah...Right...I'll be waiting for that day." Jared snapped waving his father off as he bitterly walked out of his father's throne room.

The king let out a low sigh before rubbing his brow. Why he had children was beyond him at this point. Getting up from his throne once more he walked over towards his large bird cage once again. Looking inside the cage, he smiled softly.

Three zebra finches, and one green-cheeked conure. But that was what was just in the cage, outside in the garden he had four geese and five swans.

Yes, the king loved birds, he had thirteen birds and only four children.

Still, even he knew like birds, children needed to fly out of the nest and start their own families. It was time for his four to move on. However, also like birds, his children need to breed within their own species, Mark may be in love with a commoner, but the king wasn't allowing it.

Whether Mark was going to like it or not.


	3. Chapter 3

Mark let out a soft hum as he ran the brush through his dark hair trying his hardest to get the remaining straw out. It didn't last long as he heard a soft tapping at his window, turning, he nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight. Jack was at his window, two story window mind you, he was sitting there at the sill gently tapping, he then ushered frantically for Mark to open the window.

Letting out a low breath, Mark put his brush down and hurried to the window, unlatching it, he helped Jack inside before shutting the window.

"Are you insane? Jack, if someone saw you they might think you were trying to rob us!" Mark scolding Jack before slapping him on the back of the head for good measure.

"Mark this is important. Why did you tell me back in the stables that you're being married off? You don't think that's something I should know?" Jack bitterly asked as he rubbed the back of his head, he watched as Mark's eyes widened at the news.

"I'm not being married off." Mark said simply, he then shuddered at what Jack had said next,

"That's not what Bob and Wade told me. They said there was going to be a big ball with all sorts of royals coming here shortly."

"...What?"

"...Did you really not know?"

Mark stood there for a few minutes shaking horribly, finally he pursed his lips and just scowled.

"So that's what Jared was so smug about then."

"Oh! Markimoo!" Came Danny's voice, before Jack could even blink he was on the floor and under the bed. Mark quickly hid the gap with his thick blanket right as Arin and Danny came waltzing in.

"There's our lovely brother." Arin threw his arm around Mark's shoulder whilst Danny gave Mark a nudge with his elbow.

"Heard you gave Matpat a bit of a hard time today." Danny laughed and Mark let out a bitter hmph in response. Pursing his lips, Mark gave a fake smile before continuing,

"Yeah...Hey, did dad mention something of a...Oh I don't know..." Mark blew a raspberry in thought before continuing, "An upcoming ball or something? To either of you?" Mark asked them, he watched as both of his brothers smiles fell from their faces, they shared a look before coughing a bit.

"Why...Uh...Do you ask?" Arin was the one to ask first and Mark gave a shrug,

"I just want to know if its true or not."

Danny and Arin looked at each other before Arin quickly spoke up,

"Oh would you look at the sun outside! Danny we have to...We have that thing! The thing with Jared!"

"What?" Danny asked, only to get an elbow to ribs by Arin in response before he caught on.

"Yes! The...Thing! Off we go!" With that they waltzed on out of Mark's room, all Mark could do was shake his head, obvious lie was painfully obvious. Getting down he helped Jack up out from under his bed and sighed,

"I guess you're right. So my father is to have me married..."

They held hands with one another as Mark stood there silent for a few heartbeats before he just shrugged in response.

"You know what. He can try, but I'm not marrying anyone. How does he expect me to marry someone I don't even know? What? I shared a dance with them? Ohhhh must be love." Mark sarcastically quipped as he sat down at the edge of his bed in a huff.

"What are you going to do then?" Jack sat next to him, there was a silence before Mark simply leaned in and pecked Jack on the lips.

"I'm going to kiss you. Then, I'm going to tell you the plan I've been scheming for a while now." Mark responded, like he said, he kissed Jack a little more passionately this time, the kiss didn't last long as it was Mark that broke away first, he jumped up from his bed and quickly leaned against the bedroom door. Probably to stop anyone from bursting in right away. Jack decided to sit on the ground next to the bed just in case.

"Ok. Hear me out. Me and you take a ship to Ireland."

Jack sat up a bit more fully now. Brief memories of him and his father flashed in his mind, he was only seven when his father had no choice but to give him up to Mark's own father, yeah, it was overseas, he remembers crying every night he was on that boat.

"We can find your father, if you'd like that is."

"My dad..." Jack breathed out slowly looking at his hands, he could only sigh softly as the memory of his dad saying goodbye one final time hit him. That was the last time anyone ever called him by his actual name...

"Jack?"

"It sounds...Wonderful. Me and You in Ireland, no one to rule over us..." He spoke softly as he then stood and sauntered over to Mark, who continued Jack's own sentence,

"A small farm, in a nice cozy home..."

"It all sounds so lovely, but how can we do that? You're father barely lets you leave the palace to go to town, how can get to this boat?"

"I...Haven't thought that far ahead yet. I know that the Captain of the boat is in our small town and is waiting for me on command...Don't know who he is though. He made sure to keep his face hidden."

Jack sighed out and got ready to stand up, that was until Mat's voice came booming from down the hall.

"MARK!"

Quickly Jack rolled under the bed, Mark managed to use the covers to hide the gap just as Mat came bursting in, a pissed off look on his face.

"Knock much?" Mark joked and Mat let out a deep breath, clearly trying to control his rising anger.

"Mark. Where is Jack?" Mat spoke softly, his voice tittering on the edge.

"Don't know. I've been here the whole time."

"Mark. I am right on the freaking edge. I don't have time for this."

"I told you. I don't know, Matpat. Check the pub."

"Fine."

With that Mat slammed the door shut on his way out and Mark helped Jack up.

"You better go, he looks pissed enough as it is." Mark told him as he helped wipe the dust off of Jack's clothing.

"Yeah. Oh before I go." Jack leaned in and kissed Mark. He quickly broke away and smiled, "We aren't done with this discussion. I'll come back later..."

Mark nodded and watched as Jack carefully climbed out the window, once safely on the ground below, Jack waved to Mark and ran off towards the pub. Mark sighed dreamily and leaned out the window.

Unbenounced to him Mat was still outside his door, the teacher shut his eyes tight and gently sighed.

"Mark. I hope you know what you're doing..."


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner was silent that night, the only noises being made were the forks scratching the plates. Once everyone had their fill, the servants came in and removed the plates and food from in front of them. Mark sucked on his teeth before finally speaking up,

"Father, I have a question."

His dad paused wiping around his mouth and gave his son a nervous side glance.

"Yes? What is it?"

Mark paused for a moment, debating on how to go on about his question, he shifted his gaze towards his teacher, who seemed to be trying to hide his face, odd.

"Well...I heard one of the servants speak of an upcoming ball that you seem to be hosting." Mark started, his father cursed bitterly under his breath, but Mark continued, "Is...It true?"

"I wanted to wait to tell you, but, yes, Marcus, it's true."

Mark just chuckled and swallowed a bit, he decided to just play along, seeing how he wasn't going to stick around to be married anyway.

"Alright then. Don't know why you wanted to wait. I'm fine with it, honestly." Mark smiled at his dad and stood.

"O-Oh?" His dad asked, startled.

"Of course."

Getting up from his seat, Still smiling, Mark hummed softly as he walked passed Jared, there was a moment of silence as he sauntered off. Still humming, he gave Leon a happy wave as he walked passed him.

"Liar." Jared mumbled bitterly, ignoring Danny and Arin's stares. His father cleared his throat,

"Jared..."

"He's planning something, father, you know it."

"Jared, it's Mark. He's not planning anything, you just hate him." Arin laughed earing a glare from his brother.

"No, I don't hate him. I'm just not blind, like all of you." Jared snapped standing from his seat, then stormed off in the opposite direction of Mark and the king could only sigh out.

"...Well...Should we be off?" Danny asked and Arin nodded, just wanting to get away from high tension in the air, they got up and left their father alone at the table with only Mat now and he only sighed once more.

"...Matthew?" The king asked with a heavy sigh still in his voice, it was clear he was tired, Mat stood from his seat and moved a bit closer to the king.

"Yes?" Mat answered as he grabbed a few stray plates and silverware to give the servants still cleaning up.

"Any news on Mark's obvious love?"

Mat swallowed hard and tugged a bit at his collar.

"Nope. Judging by his reaction to the news, I'd say he doesn't even have one." Mat mumbled out.

"Matthew...You aren't lying to me, are you?" The king asked with a bitter growl at the end of his sentence. Mat swallowed again.

"Of course not, I'd never lie to...you..." Mat looked up to see Stephanie, the woman waltzing in with clothes in her hands. The king noticed Mat's gaze and turned to Stephanie,

"Your highness, your clothes are ready whenever you are." She smiled brightly at him.

"Oh yes. Thank you Ms. Stephanie. We'll continue this later, Matpat." The king stood and the two walked off, Stephanie turned her head and smiled at Mat, who just dumbly waved goodbye to her.

"If I can be blunt." Leon jumped in, making Mat jump and turn to the man,

"Yes, what is it?"

"She likes you, go for it."

Mat gave a chuckle to that and gently tugged on his collar, "Yes, thank you Leon, I'll keep that in mind."

"You're also a terrible liar. If you're going to lie about Jack and Mark's relationship-"

"How do you know?"

Leon straightened his clothes a bit and smiled,

"I've worked for the king longer than you have, I know many, many secrets. Let me say this, Mark isn't the only one in this palace to have a secret relationship. The others are more quiet about it." Leon winked.

"...Oh..Yeah..Great." Mat grumbled before just sighing and rubbing his face with his hand angrily, the last thing he needed to know was that. "I could of worked for the high king...A normal family, but nooo...I just had to work for the family of secrets!"

"I'm sure the high king wouldn't enjoy your theory of the pope-" Leon started,

"IT'S A GOOD THEORY, DAMMIT!"

Leon laughed loudly as he walked away from Mat, the teacher sat down at the table and rubbed his face tiredly.

"Long day?"

Mat jumped a bit look up at Stephanie the seamstress smiled warmly at him and then took the seat next to him. He smiled back at her,

"Not really, but...It's nothing really."

She place a hand on his knee and smiled again at him, it almost made him melt.

"I think it's a good theory."

"Stephanie!" The two heard the king yell from the next room and she stood once more. "See you." When she walked behind him, she gently ran her hand along his shoulders making him jump. Watching her walk away, Mat sighed out softly. Quickly he shook his head, what was he doing? He shouldn't fall head over heels over that poor woman like this. Standing, he stretched his arms above his head before walking away from the dining table. He needed to go and talk to Jack.

* * *

Mark continued to hum softly as he looked at himself in the mirror, move some of his black hair out of his face he smiled to himself. Still, a dreadful thought was still lingering in his mind, how exactly was he going to go about the ball, no doubt a lot of royals would like to dance with him, maybe even try to kiss him. He shuddered at the thought, kissing a strange person, it took him months to kiss Jack...

Why would his father even force him to marry? It wasn't like he was first in line to the throne, no that was Arin, then Danny, then Jared, and finally him. So why make the last in line marry at all? It didn't make any sense to him.

"Lies...It's all lies." A voice softly whispered.

Mark perked up and turned around, there was no one with him.

"He just wants to control you..."

Feeling his heart start to race, Mark continued to frantically look around.

"Hello?" Mark called out.

"Father doesn't love you..."

Swallowing hard, Mark looked out of the corner of his eyes before noticing that something wasn't right with the mirror, shaking, he turned around to face his reflection. It was him, yes, but it's or his eyes had dark circles under them and had little to no light or happiness to them. His reflection smiled at him before speaking softly once more,

"d̹̖̞͙̦̗̻ͥ͆̒̐ͯ̊͋ị͇̬̭ͯ̂͐ͥd̘͎̠̯̂ ̠̯̳̭̣̲͇͑̆̌̐y̫̝͎̼̘͓̭ͫ͑o̼̩ͤ͊͗̋͌͗ū̱̭͉̹̰̉̑̓̔͌͋ ͖͈͖̣͎̗̔͌̈́ͧ͐̂̿f̑ͨ̑ͥ̓́ỏ̫̔̍̍̉̈̈́r͎̃ͨͭ̎̎̆ͤg̞͈͕̠̙̤ͩ̉ͫͬ͒e̪̘̳̤̘͌ͭt̹̝̞̱̣̥̟ͬͥ͊͊̄ͬ̇ ̫̜ͣa̳̞͉̥̫͎b̯̙͚̻̫ͣ̓̅̆͛ͅo̤͕̙ͪ̇̄ͅṵ̣͂̅͑̄͑͂t̪̗́̎͐̋̍̋ m̼̣e̩̮̭̦̯̽ͅ?̲̞"

Mark had no idea what happened next, all he knew was that he must of passed out.

When he came to he was surrounded by everyone, Jared, Arin, Danny, his father, Mat, and even Austin.

"Marcus? Marcus!" His father asked worriedly, slowly sitting up, Mark felt like his head weighed a hundred pounds. He felt something slowly run down from his nose to his chin, reaching up he rubbed his fingers under his nose to feel the thick liquid, pulling his fingers back, he found out it was blood.

"Hold still!" Mat ordered as he used some sort of cloth to plug up the bloody mess under Mark's nose.

"Easy there..." Arin coaxed softly as him, Jared, and Danny pulled Mark to his feet.

"Wha..." Mark mumbled as he tried to piece together what happened.

"You were screaming bloody murder, son, we found on the floor your nose just pouring out blood." His father explained.

"The mirror...It...Spoke." Mark pointed lazily to his normal reflection now.

"Clearly hallucinating. Don't worry some bed rest will get you right." Mat mumbled, slowly Jared, Danny, Austin, and his teacher all helped him walk to his bed. His father let out a worried sigh and turned to Arin, who just shook his head,

"I told you it'd come back..."

"But why now? We can't have him a delusional mess before the ball..."

"...Lets let him rest, father, Hopefully it'll just be a one time thing and he'll forget about it. Alright?"

The king frowned deeply at this but still nodded,

"Very well, but if I wake up to a knife in the arm like last time-"

Arin chuckled before his father could finish,

"Mark has better control now that he's older, trust me, he won't stab you again."

 **So, while I end on that note, let me do this by saying I have all the pairings that I want in this story now! Yay! So obviously Septiplier is the main pairing (duh) but off to the side for later there's going to be Phan, Leo/Thomas Sanders (yes Thomas sanders is in this It's a guilty ship ok) Doug/James (Critic/Nerd another guilty ship but this one is only a cameo) Kubz/Azzman (the guiltiest of them all ) StephPat, and a few others that are only mentioned rather briefly. HOWEVER!**

 **Can anyone guess the secret ship Leon mentioned? This ship will have a big part in the story. It won't be shown until way later in the story, but still guess away.**


	5. Chapter 5

Mark felt something damp on his head, opening his eyes, he slowly sat up and something fell from his head onto his lap, he realized it was a wet cloth. Shuddering, he looked down and realized he wasn't wearing anything.

"Oh good, you're up..." Looking up towards his door, Mark half smiled at Mat in the doorway. Mat stepped in and shut the door behind him, "We need to talk."

"Uh, yeah...Can I put on some clothes first?" Mark questioned and Mat simply grabbed a nearby chair and sat down, giving Mark his answer.

"Look...Mark...I know about you and...Jack."

Mark sat there for a few moments unsure of what to say.

"Your silence speaks volumes." Mat concluded. Bringing his hands together like he was going to pray, he brought them to his mouth and sighed out. "Look, I can try to keep this a secret, but I need you to understand they my duty is to your father...With this upcoming ball, I need you to downplay your relationship."

Mark nodded slowly and Mat gently patted Mark's knee.

"Good. Now, as for your studying, I'm hoping you'll stop playing hide and seek with me? Please?"

"I think I can do that. Even if it is fun."

The two of them chuckled and Mat frowned. Looking around, he grabbed a bloody cloth that was sitting on Mark's dresser.

"Here. Your nose is bleeding again."

Grabbing the cloth, Mark gently dabbed it under his nose before wiping the bit of blood away.

"Alright, I'm going to go now. You try not to stress too much, we don't want you to bleed to heavily again." Mat stood and put the chair back.

"oh, A few royals should be arriving here tomorrow, greet them kindly." Mat told him, he then smiled before walking out of Mark's room. Mark smiled softly before wiping his nose once more. Sniffling a bit, Mark licked his dry lips and sighed out.

"There's our loving brother." Danny smiled brightly as he came into Mark's room, Arin right behind him.

"Here's your naked loving brother." Mark responded with a laugh.

"Yeah, that was Mat. His theory was that you were overheating, so he had us strip you down, you should of heard his explanation. Total crackpot...I swear." Arin laughed and sat down on the edge of Mark's bed, Mark chuckled as well.

"In all seriousness, how are you feeling?" Danny questioned as he took a seat in the chair that Mat had.

"Oh, fine, for the most part, I don't really know what happened..."

"Neither do we, to be honest, like dad said, you just started screaming." Arin told him, Mark gently dabbed the last bit of blood away from his nose and smiled weakly at his brothers,

"Well, I'm fine now. I'm sure after some more rest I'll be back in tip top shape."

"That's good, rest does sound good." Arin stood followed by Danny, Mark wished them both a good night. The moment his door shut, he kicked his covers off and hurriedly put some clothes on, once dressed enough, he grabbed his hooded cloak and opened his window before he silently sneaked out of his room. Once on the ground, Mark looked around before he hurried off to the stables. Looking around the stalls, he frowned when he couldn't find Jack. Giving Jay a slight pat he looked off towards the small town, no doubt Jack was at the pub...With Bob and Wade...Mark shifted his weight a bit.

If he where to get caught leaving the palace...Especially after what happened...His father would not be pleased.

Still shifting back and forth a bit, Mark sighed. Looking back at the palace Mark silently left the stables and hurried off towards the town. Bringing the hood up, he kept a look out as he walked around the town, very rarely was he allowed out much less without one of his brothers or a guard of some sort. Opening the door to the pub, he was greeted by the warm fire crackling just to the left, giving the pub a nice glow. Everyone was chatting happily to one another, he could make out his friends in the corner all sitting at a table eating. Slowly he dropped his hood and everything instantly went quiet.

Jack was the first to run up to him.

"What are you doing here?" Jack whispered worriedly.

"I got bored."

"Mark...Cry could easily report you to your father." Jack whispered.

"Oh, let the prince have some fun!" Came Wade's shout, this caused the others around the bar to nod.

"I won't tell anyone." Doug said to his friend Brad who just shrugged in response. James nodded as he took a sip of his drink,

"Secret safe with me."

Everyone turned to Cry, the bartender was busy cleaning a cup, he then shrugged,

"I don't even know who he is."

"Alright then! C'mon Mark." Jack lead Mark towards the table and the two sat down.

"Are you alright? We heard that you fainted." Bob asked concerned and Wade snorted with his response,

"Jack was freaking out."

"Was not." Jack defended himself, Mark went to answer but a cup was placed in front of him.

"On the house...Don't go crazy." Cry told Mark before walking away. Mark shrugged and slowly sipped his ale, cringing at the unfamiliar taste.

"But, um...Yeah, I'm fine, just a...Major nosebleed." Mark explained and Jack wrapped an arm around Mark's shoulders. Mark then leaned in and whispered to Jack, "Matpat knows."

Jack brought his arm down and looked around the pub, everyone talked to one another, a few, James and Doug mostly, seemed to occasionally look up and over at Mark. Jack narrowed his eyes at them before turning back to Mark, the prince seem to be debating whether or not to continue to drink his ale. Seeing this as well, Wade suddenly banged his hands on the table.

"Chug!"

Mark looked at Wade confused, but then Bob joined in, banging his hands on the table as well,

"Chug! Chug! Chug!"

Next thing Mark knew the whole pub was yelling at him to drink it, Jack even joined in. Looking down, Mark threw all logic away and brought the cup up to his mouth, chugging the whole thing down he sputtered a bit and got a little on his shirt but still, he managed to get it all down. Finishing he took a step back and made a face. To his surprise the whole pub applauded.

"Oh that stuff was...Pretty good actually..." Mark laughed and Wade reached over and slapped him on the back.

"Good job. Jack, show him how an Irish man drinks his stuff though."

Jack laughed at this and picked up his cup, Mark watched with amusement as Jack proceeded to drink all that was in his cup without sputtering or gagging. Once he finished, he slammed the cup down on the table in triumph.

"Battle!" Doug suddenly yelled, everyone looked at him as him and James nodded to one another before James joined in.

"Battle! battle!"

Like before, the whole pub suddenly joined in as they all started to chant loudly.

"Battle? What? I don't want to fight him." Mark told them and a few of them laughed at him.

"No Mark, they want a drinking battle." Wade told him simply.

"Drinking battle? Never heard of that."

"It's simple, whoever can drink the most without vomiting it all up, wins."

"...Why?"

"It's the most fun they get."

"Battle! BATTLE!" The crowd got loader, even Toby joined in with his own chanting.

"Guys! Guys! Don't forget, he's a prince. He doesn't drink as much as I do." Jack told them all.

"What don't think I can win?" Mark challenged, instantly some of them let out loud 'ohhhs' in response.

"I know I can win against you, princey."

"Bring it!"

Next thing Mark knew him and Jack where slamming back the ales, next to a rather reluctant Cry.

"You have to stop him. If he goes back drunk, his father will know." Cry told Bob who just shrugged.

"Dude, this is his third one, no turning back now." Bob muttered as he watched the two of them. Mark and Jack intertwined their arms as they slammed back their fourth ale in a row the bitter alcohol taste subsisted and all Mark could taste now was just the sweet appley taste of the drink. Everyone clapped and cheered them on, Mark reached for his fifth one but somehow missed and started to stumble around.

"Weeeee~" He airily said, next thing he knew he lost his footing, the moment he fell to his back everyone gasped and fell silent, he figured it was because he fell. "I'm...s'okay!" He slurred giggling happily.

Still smiling he looked up at the ceiling, that was until the familiar face of Jared popped into his view. Jared had his arms crossed a very pissed off expression on his face as he just slowly shook his head.

"Ey! 'smy good brother!" Mark continued to giggle. Jared just shook his head again and replied a very bitter and angry,

"You are in so much trouble..."


End file.
